We come to Matthew six again tonight, three verses there, we'll consider verses 16 through 18. And if you'd like to use a few Bible there, that is on page eight, 11. Once again, let's stand now for this reading of God's word. Beginning now at verse 16, again, the word of the Lord. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. For they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you." Word of the Lord, you can be seated. We come this evening to the third of these three spiritual disciplines that Christ has been providing for us instruction for since we've come into chapter six. Three spiritual disciplines receiving instruction from Christ. As to the practice of true righteousness, this is what true righteousness looks like in these things. And since we've come to chapter six, as we said, there's been three of them. We've considered almsgiving in verses one to four. We've considered prayer last week in verses five to 15. Tonight, we come to the topic of fasting in verses 16 to 18. Fasting, of course. refers to depriving oneself of something, usually food and drink for a period of time. And the purpose of doing this is in order to seek God. It is a practice that's not uncommon in the scriptures. We see it mentioned with some regularity, but it is a practice that seems to be uncommon among believers today. Maybe not. Maybe we fast all the time. It's just that we've taken Jesus's word so seriously not to let anyone know we're fasting, that we just we don't ever talk about it. Of course, I very much doubt that this is the case. When's the last time you heard, say, a sermon or a lesson on fasting? I can't remember teaching any here unless we've just come upon it in the Gospels. I'm sure we have at some point, but none comes to mind. When's the last time you practiced a fast? When's the last time you even thought about fasting? It had been some time for me until I came to this passage. Well, maybe in the weeks leading up, knowing that it was coming, it had been some time, and I have to confess that I certainly don't practice it as I did in earlier days. We certainly should think about it, and I want to submit to you again that Jesus assumes that we will do this. Just as he said, when you give and when you pray, he also says in verse 16, not if, but when you fast. So he assumes his disciples will participate periodically in a fast. Of course, it may not be advisable for everyone to fast. There can be reasons not to. say if a woman's pregnant for medical reasons, if there's an underlying health condition, et cetera, et cetera. It may not be wise to deprive the body of food and drink, but for most of us, a fast would do us some good. And not just to try to lose weight or something, but a fast would do us, this type of fast, seeking God, would do us some spiritual good. And so if it would, and if Christ assumes that we will, then we should. And if we're going to, then we need to consider what the scriptures have to say. And there's really no better place for us to go than here in Matthew, chapter six, the Sermon on the Mount, where Christ himself gives us instruction with regard to fasting. We do this and we would do well to heed the instruction in order that we might have what Christ intends for us. That again is, as we said in the last couple of weeks, it's a reward. If you look at verse 18, your father who sees in secret will reward you. The Lord promises a reward for this type of fast. There's some incentive for it right there. We're going to look at this just like we did last week, I don't have a main heading, just two very simple points, how not to fast and how to fast. That's what we did with prayer, that's what we'll do with this one. Verse 16, Jesus tells us the way not to, and then verses 17 and 18, he tells us the way we are to. So how not to fast, verse 16. Before we get here, to say how not to fast, I want to just say a little bit more about the practice of fasting in general. Of course, I've already alluded to this, but there are various reasons why someone might fast. Your physician might require that, say before you have some blood work done, or your surgeon might before there's an operation the next day. You may have even found, for dietary reasons, that there are benefits to intermittent fasting. And you may have found that it helps regulate your metabolism, it gives you energy levels throughout the day, and your productivity is higher, and so you found benefit to this. But of course, none of these, though people may fast for various reasons, none of these have to do with Christ's teaching of here. This is religious fasting, and when it comes to religious fasting, It's not just Christianity, of course, that practices fasting. All sorts of religions do. But when it comes to the true religion, fasting was only prescribed actually one day in the entire year in the Old Testament. We don't have any prescribed fast for the New Testament. There's only one day for the entire year that a fast was prescribed. It was the Day of Atonement. That's when the Old Covenant people of God were to fast. And so Israel's religious calendar revolved around not fast days but feast days except for this one day of the year. However, though there is only one day commanded that is no longer required of us as we are now in the new covenant and freed from those ceremonies, at the same time we find plenty of examples of fasting in scripture. Sometimes they're personal. Sometimes those examples are corporate. And then we find occasions for fasting for various reasons. Someone falls into sin. God's judgment is threatened. There are intense times of prayer when a matter is very serious or very urgent. You might think of David as the child was in danger of dying. He was born to Bathsheba. You might think of The Apostle Paul and Silas as they were in Barnabas, rather, as they were to be sent out. And so they're seeking God's direction and his blessing. There are various reasons why people fast in the scripture. Sometimes, again, those are personal and they appear to be spontaneous. There are other times when they're more corporate and there are called seasons of fasting. You might think of the book of Esther there. And so we have one command that no longer applies, but we have perhaps an implied command to fast here, at least Christ assuming that we will fast. And then we have models of fasting, the actual practice of fasting. We see people do it throughout the scriptures. And so it's appropriate for God's people, again, building this argument that occasionally we would fast, whether it is personal, spontaneous, whether we plan out of time, whether the leadership, the elders of the church call for the church to fast. When it comes to Jesus's day, the practice of fasting had developed for the Jews as an expression of their piety. Some of them did so with great regularity. You think of Luke 15 and the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee there in the temple. And the Pharisee is praying and he's reminding God of all these things that he does, of all his righteousness. And among those things, he says, I fast twice. a week. And so it was a thing that was done with some regularity. But as per usual, these hypocrites, as Jesus calls them here, just as they did with prayer and as they did with almsgiving, they have taken the discipline of fasting, which is a very good thing. and had an attached reward to it, being blessed by God, they took it in an unintended direction, as it was with their giving, as it was with their praying. It had to do with the reward they were seeking, the reason, the underlying motive, and that was that it was being done for theater. They wanted to fast in order to be seen by others. That's what Jesus says here. When you fast, don't do it like them. looking gloomy, disfiguring their faces, in order that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. When someone goes without eating for an extended period of time, it's evident in their appearance. Say someone has been ill and they haven't had any appetite and then they're worn down, they're weary. You notice it, don't you? You see their face isn't quite as full. They have dark circles under their eyes. They may look even exhausted. Something is clearly different about them. You can tell their body is in a form of distress and it lacks its typical health and vitality. Well, this is the way that the hypocrites here wanted to look. They wanted you to see them and as you did, see their unwashed faces and you saw perhaps their disfigured faces. It may be spread about with ashes on them. It was sort of a way of publicizing the hardships that are usually associated with fasting, but that's why they did it. It was a stage play. It was a theater. They wanted to appear to be fasting. We've considered, haven't we, in the last couple of weeks, this word hypocrite. And we know the meaning is is from the theater and has the idea of putting on a mask when it comes to fasting. They were like literally putting on the mask, looking so that they were fasting, disfiguring their faces, Jesus says. So they wanted to make sure that others knew. How much they were willing to suffer, you know how severely they were willing to discipline their bodies so that men might see them, praise them for their piety. They might have this most sought after prize. The reward of being thought well of, the reward of being thought devout in the opinions of men. Jesus says, no, this is not the way. This is this is not the way that you are to fast. Do not be like them. Don't be like them unless you want their reward. If that is what you want. Then then go for it, but you have to know, as Jesus has said, they have the reward, that's all there is to expect if you want the reward that the Lord gives. A reward that is more than anything men can give a reward that is both for this life and the life to come, then not only should you fast on occasion, but you should fast in this way that you're seeking the reward from your heavenly father. And so that'll take us now to verses 17 and 18. We've seen how not to see Jesus telling us here how to fast. He says that we are to take the opposite approach. Instead of disfiguring your face, spreading it with ashes, and instead of looking with gloom, Jesus says anoint your head and wash your face. Instead of doing this in a way to be seen by men, Jesus says do this in a way so that you're not seen by others, rather by your Father who is in secret. Interestingly enough, someone has noted that it sort of appears that Jesus is advocating hypocrisy here. He's just he's just he's been telling us, you know, about these hypocrites. And the masks that they wear. It seems as though maybe he's saying this sort of the same thing just in the other direction. They want to look like they're fasting, Jesus says, don't look like you're fasting when when you actually are. But of course, that's that's not the point, as we've been considering. It's just like it was with prayer. It's not that no one can know that we're praying or know whenever to pray corporately. Just like it was with almsgiving, it's not that we're in danger of losing the reward if anyone ever finds out the same is true with fasting. It's not. It's not that someone can't know that you're fasting, it's just that you don't do it with the purpose of people knowing that you're fasting. And so. He says here, don't. Don't fast in the way that seeks the reward for men, prepare yourself rather Not like you're fasting, but like you're feasting. Get yourself ready. Wash your face, anoint your head. It's not hypocrisy, it's not insincere. But it communicates that you are going to a feast, although you're not feasting physically. You're feasting spiritually, and that really should be the attitude of our fasting. We're getting ready for this. We're getting ready to have communion with God, to seek him. Now, we should add that the occasion for our fasting. It might it might be gloomy, it might be dark. You know, especially say if someone is deathly ill. And you're going to focus this time given over to intense prayer. The need is so urgent or someone is unrepentant in their sin and you're so burdened for them that you're willing to forsake food and drink to eat. Sometimes it's a planned fast, but sometimes the need is so urgent that it's like you don't want to eat. You ever get busy with a project and it's like, man, it's already a couple hours past lunchtime and I haven't eaten anything. But you haven't felt like you've needed to. Your mind has been so occupied. Sometimes the need is so urgent in prayer that the fasting is almost like we're not even thinking about it. We don't need to eat. because our focus is so sharp. So the need can certainly be gloomy. The circumstances can be like that of mourning. But at the same time, we are going to our true reward when we fast, to our true feast, to the true portion of our souls. And so there's no need to to put on the sackcloth. There's no need to cover our faces with ashes. The Lord sees all. And he is the one who's promised the reward. Again, that's an incentive for us. So we may be fasting from physical food, but we are feasting with the Father. Just as Jesus said, when His disciples came, you remember in John 4, they come back and He's been talking to the woman at the well, and we've gone to get food, and Jesus says He's not hungry, and they're amazed at this because He hasn't eaten anything, and He says, I have meat to eat that you know not of, because my meat and my drink is to do the will of my Father. Well, this is the way it is with fasting. We're not eating physically, we are feasting upon the bread of heaven. Typically, fasting is tied to prayer. We've said this, sort of alluded to this a few times, but fasting is always understood to be coupled with prayer because the fasting, the leaving behind of food and drink is in order that we might seek God. Somebody put it wittily, I heard it years ago that fasting without praying is just starving because it kind of misses the point. And so it is in order to seek God that the whole point of depriving ourselves of something like physical food is not to destroy our bodies. It's not to discipline them so severely that we're on the brink of starvation, but it's rather to discipline and train ourselves to seek God with a focus and a resolve so that every time you feel the hunger pains, it reminds you what you're doing. that you call upon the Lord. If you've ever fasted, maybe you're going to do so through a work day. You might have had this experience where someone comes in and says, hey man, we're going to that great pizza place you love for lunch. We're all going to get there. And you're like, oh yeah, man, that sounds great. And then all of a sudden you remember that you're fasting. And then there's maybe a bit of a letdown, but at the same time, that experience, that feeling, those hunger pains should remind you of what you're doing. That you have purposely, intentionally done this to seek the Lord. And so it should call your attention back to him. Again, feasting on the bread of heaven because we are those, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, the Beatitudes, we are those who what? Hunger and thirst for righteousness. And what does God promise? What does Christ promise to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? He says they shall be filled. Again, there is a reward promised here. We've seen that prayer. We say this often, we said this again last week with the sermon on prayer, but prayer is a means of grace. And so fasting is as well as it is coupled with prayer because it intensifies our seasons of prayer. Fasting says that the Lord himself, he is the supreme hunger of my heart. So Jesus has told us how not to fast. He's told us how to fast. This is why you're not to look gloomy. This is why you're not to disfigure yourself so that you might appear to have the effects of fasting for others to see. This is why you are to wash your face and to go about your business, because in your fasting, you are feasting with the Lord of heaven and upon the true bread of heaven. Because it's not the opinion of men that whets your appetite, but rather communion with the Lord. He is your true reward. It's really a question again, as we've been seeing in all of these, but now perhaps a little more literally, what are you hungry for when it comes to practicing your righteousness, as Jesus said in verse one. So when you fast, When you fast, there is an assumption there, as we've been saying. I'll ask you this, do you? Do you fast on occasion? At the beginning, when's the last time you did or even thought about it? But do you? Have you ever? If not, if you've never begun a fast. You know, whether that is just for the day, you know, you're going to eat and drink again at evening or whether it's just for a meal, maybe it's just I'm going to skip lunch today and devote that time to prayer. Whether it's 24 hours or some, you know, would do it even longer. Do you? Have you? If you haven't, if you never do, why not? Could it be that? We don't have we don't ever have a sense of urgency. To seek God. Could it be that we don't have a sense of urgency in the matters that we're praying for? Could it could it be that our prayers are so rote and routine that they lack a true intensity behind them? Could it be that we're really we're just not hungry for this reward? That God prompted Christ promises to us. Could it be that we are like the child who spoiled his dinner? And mom's got this this wonderful home cooked meal, hot and ready to go at 630. And the child says, I'm not hungry because he's been eating sugar all afternoon. Are we so full of entertainment of the world of our vocations of our leisure of our activities and our hobbies? Are we so full of these things? That the bread of heaven is just we're just not hungry for it. You know, sorry to pick on the kids again, but that's that's the way kids are, you know. Can I have some ice cream? No, you can't. But I'm hungry. Well, eat your dinner first. I've got spaghetti cooked. I'm not hungry for that. What are we hungry for? Are we hungry for the Lord himself and the reward that God promises to us? So maybe you're well overdue for a fast. If you fast in this way, again, there is great reward for you. If you've neglected this discipline, then perhaps plan one, consider it. Maybe we need to just wean ourselves from the pleasures of the world at times. It is good just every once in a while for the appetites of the flesh, even legitimate ones, just to hear the word no. It could be a fast from food, it could be a fast from intimacy with your spouse as Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians for a time to devote themselves to prayer and then to come together again. It could be a fast from maybe technology just for a day or two. Whatever it is, the things that we can part with in order to devote ourselves to prayer, to seek the Lord, setting that time aside. When it comes to fasting in the life and ministry of Jesus, there was some curiosity, you might remember, as to why his disciples did not fast. They came and said, look, the Pharisees fast, the disciples of John fast, but we've noticed that your disciples don't fast. You remember the answer Jesus gave them. He said when the bridegroom is with them, the wedding guests don't fast. But when the bridegroom leaves, when he's absent, they'll fast again. Of course, Christ has promised to be with us to the end of the age, but he's also very much absent from us because we are awaiting his return. And so if we are awaiting the return of the bridegroom and if the bridegroom has told us that when he is gone, his disciples, the wedding guests, his bride even, that she would fast, then why wouldn't we occasionally if we truly long for him? And such fasting, once again, I remind you, is rewarded. when it seeks God himself as a true bread that satisfies the soul. Let's pray.